Vertical field effect transistors with metallic source/drain regions

ABSTRACT

Semiconductor devices having vertical FET (field effect transistor) devices with metallic source/drain regions are provided, as well as methods for fabricating such vertical FET devices. For example, a semiconductor device includes a first source/drain region formed on a semiconductor substrate, a vertical semiconductor fin formed on the first source/drain region, a second source/drain region formed on an upper surface of the vertical semiconductor fin, a gate structure formed on a sidewall surface of the vertical semiconductor fin, and an insulating material that encapsulates the vertical semiconductor fin and the gate structure. The first source/drain region comprises a metallic layer and at least a first epitaxial semiconductor layer. For example, the metallic layer of the first source/drain region comprises a metal-semiconductor alloy such as silicide.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor fabricationtechniques and, in particular, to structures and methods for fabricatingvertical FET (field effect transistor) devices.

BACKGROUND

Traditional CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) techniquesinclude process flows for constructing planar FET devices. With planarFETs, increased transistor density can be achieved by decreasing thepitch between transistor gate elements. However, with planar FETdevices, the ability to decrease gate pitch is limited by the requiredgate length, spacer thickness, and source/drain size. In recent years,there has been significant research and development with regard tovertical FET devices, which decouple the gate length from the gate pitchrequirement and enable scaling of transistor density. In general,vertical FET devices are designed to have gate structures that areformed on multiple sides of a vertical channel structure (e.g., avertical semiconductor fin or vertical nanowire). With vertical FETdevices, scaling is determined by how closely conductive contacts tosource and drain regions can be placed.

In general, vertical FET devices employ doped source and drain regions,wherein a doped source region for a vertical FET can be formed on top ofa vertical semiconductor fin, and wherein a doped drain region can beformed underneath the vertical semiconductor fin. In addition, avertical drain contact of the vertical FET device is disposed adjacentto the vertical semiconductor fin as an elongated bar contact. Thevertical drain contact is formed to make contact to an upper surface ofthe underlying drain region, and is disposed at a sufficient distancefrom the vertical semiconductor fin so that the vertical drain contactdoes not electrically short to the vertical metal gate structure formedon the vertical semiconductor fin. What this effectively means is thatthe current path through the doped drain region between the verticaldrain contact/drain region interface and the drain region/channeljunction interface, is comprised entirely of doped semiconductormaterial. This current path through the doped drain region, ifrelatively long, can result in increased series resistance of the drain,which in turn reduces a total drive current of the vertical FET device.Furthermore, if the vertical FET channel width is large (which, for avertical FET, means patterning a long semiconductor fin), then the totaldrain resistance is high toward an opposite end of the semiconductor finwhich is not adjacent to the vertical drain contact. This results in avoltage drop across the device width and, therefore, a Vdsnon-uniformity across the device width, with Vds being smaller at theopposite end of the semiconductor fin as compared to the Vds at the endof the semiconductor fin adjacent to the drain contact, which alsoreduces a total drive current of the vertical FET device.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention generally include semiconductor deviceshaving vertical FET devices with metallic source/drain regions, andmethods for fabricating vertical FET devices with metallic source/drainregions.

For example, one embodiment of the invention includes a semiconductordevice which comprises a first source/drain region formed on asemiconductor substrate, a vertical semiconductor fin formed on thefirst source/drain region, a second source/drain region formed on anupper surface of the vertical semiconductor fin, a gate structure formedon a sidewall surface of the vertical semiconductor fin, and aninsulating material encapsulating the vertical semiconductor fin and thegate structure. The first source/drain region comprises a metallic layerand at least a first epitaxial semiconductor layer. In one embodiment,the metallic layer of the first source/drain region comprises ametal-semiconductor alloy such as a silicide.

Another embodiment includes a method for fabricating a semiconductordevice. The method includes: forming a first source/drain region on asemiconductor substrate, wherein the first source/drain region comprisesa first epitaxial semiconductor layer and a sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer; forming a vertical semiconductor fin on the firstsource/drain region; forming a gate structure on a sidewall surface ofthe vertical semiconductor fin; encapsulating the vertical semiconductorfin and the gate structure in insulating material; forming a secondsource/drain region on an upper surface of the vertical semiconductorfin; forming an opening through the insulating material and into thefirst source/drain region to expose the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer of the first source/drain region; removing at leasta portion of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer through theopening in the insulating material to form a void in the firstsource/drain region; filling the void in the first source/drain regionwith a metallic layer; and filling the opening with a conductivematerial to form a first vertical contact to the metallic layer of thefirst source/drain region.

In another embodiment, the void in the first source/drain region isfilled with a metallic layer using a method which includes depositing alayer of metallic material to fill the void with the metallic material,performing a thermal anneal process to induce a reaction between themetallic material in the void and epitaxial semiconductor material ofthe first epitaxial semiconductor layer to form a metal-semiconductoralloy region within the first source/drain region, and removingunreacted portions of the layer of metallic material. In one embodiment,the metal-semiconductor alloy region comprises a silicide.

Other embodiments will be described in the following detaileddescription of embodiments, which is to be read in conjunction with theaccompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic views of a semiconductor device havingvertical field effect transistors with a metallic source/drain region,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2 through 42 schematically illustrate a method for fabricating thesemiconductor device of FIGS. 1A/1B, according to an embodiment of theinvention, wherein:

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure at aninitial stage of fabrication starting with a silicon nitride layerformed on a surface of a semiconductor substrate;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 2 after patterning the silicon nitride layer to forman etch mask comprising openings that define isolation regions to beformed in a surface of the semiconductor substrate;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 3 after etching portions of the semiconductorsubstrate to form a pattern of trenches in the surface of the substrate;

FIG. 5 is schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 4 after filling the trenches withinsulating/dielectric material to form shallow trench isolation (STI)regions;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 5 after forming a recess within a first device regiondefined by surrounding STI regions;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 6 after forming a drain region on a bottom of therecess within the first device region and forming a hardmask layer overthe semiconductor structure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 7 after forming a recess within a second device regiondefined by the surrounding STI regions;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 8 after forming a drain region on the bottom of therecess within the second device region and recessing the STI regions;

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 9 after depositing and planarizing a layer ofinsulating material over the semiconductor structure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 10 after patterning the layer of insulating materialto form trenches through the layer of insulating material within thefirst and second device regions;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 11 after filling the trenches with epitaxialsemiconductor material to form vertical semiconductor fins in the firstand second device regions;

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 12 after recessing the layer of insulating material toform a bottom spacer in the first and second device regions;

FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 13 after forming a gate stack structure on the exposedsidewalls of the vertical semiconductor fins within the first and seconddevice regions;

FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 14 after depositing a layer of gate electrodematerial;

FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 15 after planarizing the layer of gate electrodematerial down to an upper surface of the vertical semiconductor fins;

FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C are schematic views of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 16 after recessing the layer of gate electrodematerial down between the vertical semiconductor fins;

FIG. 18 is a schematic top view of another embodiment of a device regionin which two vertical semiconductor fins are formed end-to-end and agate contact region disposed between the ends of the verticalsemiconductor fins;

FIG. 19 is a schematic top view of another embodiment of a device regionin which two vertical semiconductor fins are formed side by side, andend-to-end with at least one other semiconductor fin, and a gate contactregion disposed between the ends of the vertical semiconductor fins;

FIG. 20 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 17A after recessing the exposed portions of the gatestack structures on the sidewalls of the vertical semiconductor finsdown to the recessed surface of the gate electrode material;

FIG. 21 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 20 after forming disposable spacers that encapsulatethe exposed portions of the vertical semiconductor fins;

FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 21 after using the disposable spacers as an etch maskto etch the exposed portions of the gate electrode material to formmetallic gate structures on the vertical semiconductor fins;

FIG. 23 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 22 after removing the disposable spacers;

FIG. 24 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 23 after depositing a layer of insulating spacermaterial and planarizing the layer of insulating spacer material down tothe upper surface of the vertical semiconductor fins;

FIG. 25 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 24 after recessing the layer of insulating spacermaterial to a level that is below an upper surface of the verticalsemiconductor fins and above the metallic gate structures;

FIG. 26 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 25 after forming an ILD (inter-level dielectric layer)over the upper insulating spacer and forming a first hardmask layer overthe ILD layer;

FIG. 27 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 26 after patterning the hardmask layer to exposeportions of the ILD layer in the first device region, and etching downthe upper portions of the vertical semiconductor fins to form openingsin the ILD layer;

FIG. 28 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 27 after forming source regions on top of the verticalsemiconductor fins in the first device region;

FIG. 29 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 28 after removing the first hardmask layer, forming asecond hardmask layer over the ILD layer, and patterning the secondhardmask layer to expose portions of the ILD layer in the second deviceregion;

FIG. 30 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 29 after etching down the upper portions of thevertical semiconductor fins to form openings in the ILD layer;

FIG. 31 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 30 after forming source regions on top of the verticalsemiconductor fins in the second device region;

FIG. 32A is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 31 after removing the second hardmask layer to exposethe ILD layer and the source regions in the first and second deviceregions;

FIG. 32B is an exemplary side schematic view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 32A from the perspective shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 33 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 32B after forming a capping layer over the ILD layer;

FIG. 34 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 33 after depositing and patterning an etch hardmaskfor etching openings for drain contacts;

FIG. 35 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 34 after etching openings to expose the sacrificialepitaxial semiconductor layers of the drain regions;

FIG. 36 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 35 after removing the entire sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer of the drain region in the first device region andremoving a portion of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer ofthe drain region in the second device region, thereby forming voids inthe drain regions;

FIG. 37 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 36 after depositing a layer of metallic material tofill the voids in the drain regions with the metallic material;

FIG. 38 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 37 after performing a thermal anneal process to formmetal-semiconductor alloy regions within the drain regions using themetallic material;

FIG. 39 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 38 after removing the unreacted portions of the layerof metallic material following the thermal anneal process;

FIG. 40 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 39 after forming drain contacts to themetal-semiconductor alloy regions and removing the etch hardmask;

FIG. 41 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 40 after forming metal-semiconductor alloy regions onthe source regions; and

FIG. 42 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 41 after forming source contacts to themetal-semiconductor alloy regions of the source regions.

FIG. 43 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 44 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 45 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 46 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 47 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 48 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 49 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detailwith regard to semiconductor devices having vertical FET devices withmetallic source/drain regions, as well as methods for fabricatingvertical FET devices with metallic source/drain regions. It is to beunderstood that the various layers, structures, and regions shown in theaccompanying drawings are schematic illustrations that are not drawn toscale. In addition, for ease of explanation, one or more layers,structures, and regions of a type commonly used to form semiconductordevices or structures may not be explicitly shown in a given drawing.This does not imply that any layers, structures, and regions notexplicitly shown are omitted from the actual semiconductor structures.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the embodiments discussedherein are not limited to the particular materials, features, andprocessing steps shown and described herein. In particular, with respectto semiconductor processing steps, it is to be emphasized that thedescriptions provided herein are not intended to encompass all of theprocessing steps that may be required to form a functional semiconductorintegrated circuit device. Rather, certain processing steps that arecommonly used in forming semiconductor devices, such as, for example,wet cleaning and annealing steps, are purposefully not described hereinfor economy of description.

Moreover, the same or similar reference numbers are used throughout thedrawings to denote the same or similar features, elements, orstructures, and thus, a detailed explanation of the same or similarfeatures, elements, or structures will not be repeated for each of thedrawings. It is to be understood that the terms “about” or“substantially” as used herein with regard to thicknesses, widths,percentages, ranges, etc., are meant to denote being close orapproximate to, but not exactly. For example, the term “about” or“substantially” as used herein implies that a small margin of error ispresent, such as 1% or less than the stated amount.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic views of a semiconductor device 100 havingvertical FET devices with metallic source/drain regions, according to anembodiment of the invention. FIG. 1A is a schematic side view of thesemiconductor device 100 taken along line 1A-1A in FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1Bis a schematic top plan view of the semiconductor device 100 shown inFIG. 1A. More specifically, FIG. 1A is a schematic side view of thesemiconductor device 100 in an X-Z plane, and FIG. 1B is a top viewshowing a layout of various elements within an X-Y plane, as indicatedby the respective XYZ Cartesian coordinates shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Itis to be understood that the term “vertical” or “vertical direction” asused herein denotes a Z-direction of the Cartesian coordinates shown inFIGS. 1A/1B, and the term “horizontal” or “horizontal direction” as useddenotes an X-direction and/or Y-direction of the Cartesian coordinatesshown in FIGS. 1A/1B.

As collectively shown in FIGS. 1A/1B, the semiconductor device 100comprises a substrate 110 and a shallow trench isolation (STI) region120 which defines and isolates a first device region R1 and a seconddevice region R2. The semiconductor device 100 further comprises drainregions 130 and 140, a lower insulating spacer 155, verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170, metal gate structures 200 (eachcomprising a gate stack structure 180 and gate electrode 190) disposedaround a portion of the sidewalls of the vertical semiconductor fins 160and 170, an upper insulating spacer 215, an ILD (inter-level dielectric)layer 220, source regions 230 and 240 with respectivemetal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 and 241, and a capping layer 250.The semiconductor device 100 further comprises vertical drain contacts260 that connect to respective drain regions 130 and 140, verticalsource contacts 270 that connect to the metal-alloy regions 231 and 241of the respective source regions 230 and 240, and vertical gate contacts280 that connect to extended portions 195 of the gate electrodes 190.

In the illustrative embodiment of FIGS. 1A and 1B, within the firstdevice region R1, the drain region 130, the lower insulating spacer 155,the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and corresponding metal gatestructures 200, the upper insulating spacer 215, and the source regions230 with the metal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 (formed on top ofeach of the vertical semiconductor fins 160), form a single vertical FETdevice in the device region R1. Similarly, within the second deviceregion R2, the drain region 140, the lower insulating spacer 155, thevertical semiconductor fins 170 and corresponding metal gate structures200, the upper insulating spacer 215, and the source regions 240 withthe metal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 (formed on top of each of thevertical semiconductor fins 160), form a single vertical FET device inthe device region R2. For illustrative purposes, it is assumed that avertical FET device of a first type (e.g., n-type FET device) is formedin the first device region R1, and that a vertical FET device of asecond type (e.g., p-type FET device) is formed in the second deviceregion R2.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the vertical FET device in the first device regionR1 comprises a plurality of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 (e.g.,three fins) which are each surrounded by a corresponding one of themetal gate structures 200. Similarly, the vertical FET device in thesecond device region R2 comprises a plurality of the verticalsemiconductor fins 170 (e.g., three fins) which are each surrounded by acorresponding one of the metal gate structures 200. Each verticalsemiconductor fin 160 comprises a vertical channel segment of thevertical FET within the first device region R1, and each verticalsemiconductor fin 170 comprises a vertical channel segment of thevertical FET within the second device region R2.

In one embodiment of the invention, within each device region R1 and R2,the gate electrodes 190 of the metal gate structures 200 are commonlyconnected at one end which comprises the extended portion 195, whereinthe extended portion 195 serves as contact landing for a single gatecontact 280. Each gate stack structure 180 (which is disposed between avertical semiconductor fin 160/170 and a gate electrode 190) comprises agate dielectric layer formed on the semiconductor fin 160/170, and awork function metal layer formed on the gate dielectric layer. The lowerinsulating spacers 155 and the upper insulating spacer 215 collectivelyprovide a layer of insulating material which encapsulates the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170 and metal gate structures 200 in insulatingmaterial to electrically insulate the vertical semiconductor fins160/170 and metal gate structures 200 from surrounding components suchas the drain contacts 260, the drain regions 130 and 140, and otheradjacent metal gate structures 200.

As further shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the source regions 230 formed ontop of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 of the vertical FET device inthe first device region R1 are commonly connected to a single sourcecontact 270, and the source regions 240 of the vertical semiconductorfins 170 of the vertical FET device in the second device region R2 arecommonly connected to a single source contact 270. The drain contacts260 in the first and second device regions R1 and R2 comprise elongatedcontacts that are disposed adjacent to the ends of the respectivevertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170, opposite the gate contacts 280within the device regions R1 and R2. The drain regions 130 and 140 inthe first and second device regions R1 and R2 have footprint areas (asillustrated by the dashed lines in FIG. 1B) which are sized anddimensioned to enable contact with the respective set of verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 and the drain contacts 260 in therespective device regions R1 and R2.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 1B, the drain region 130 in the firstdevice region R1 serves as a common drain region for each of thevertical semiconductor fins 160. In addition, the drain region 130comprises an extended portion which extends past the ends of thevertical semiconductor fins 160 to serve as a contact area for the draincontact 260 within the first device region R1. Similarly, the drainregion 140 in the second device region R2 serves as a common drainregion for each of the vertical semiconductor fins 170 and comprises anextended portion which extends past the ends of the verticalsemiconductor fins 170 to serve as a contact area for the drain contact260 within the second device region R2.

As further shown in FIG. 1A, the drain region 130 in the first deviceregion R1 comprises a metal-semiconductor alloy region 131 disposedbetween epitaxial semiconductor layers 132 and 136. Similarly, the drainregion 140 in the second device region R2 comprises ametal-semiconductor alloy region 141 disposed between epitaxialsemiconductor layers 142 and 146. As explained in further detail below,each drain region 130 and 140 is initially formed as a stack ofheteroepitaxial semiconductor layers with at least one layer ofsacrificial epitaxial material. The layers of sacrificial epitaxialmaterial in the drain regions 130 and 140 are completely or at leastpartially removed forming voids in the drain regions 130 and 140. Thevoids in the drain regions 130 and 140 are then filled with a metallicmaterial. In one embodiment, a thermal anneal process is performed toinduce a reaction between the metallic material and the remainingepitaxial semiconductor material of the drain regions 130 and 140 toform the metal-semiconductor alloy regions 131 and 141 within therespective drain regions 130 and 140. In another embodiment, no thermalanneal process is performed, and the metallic material as depositedforms metallic layers in the drain regions 130 and 140. For illustrativepurposes, FIG. 1A shows an example embodiment where all sacrificialepitaxial material is removed from the drain region 130, and where aportion of a sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer 144 remainswithin the drain region 140.

Furthermore, while the drain regions 130 and 140 are shown to includethree layers of epitaxial material, the drain regions can be formed withother heteroepitaxial stack structures. For example, in one embodiment,the drain regions can be formed with two epitaxial semiconductor layerswith a first sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer disposed betweenthe substrate 110 and a second epitaxial semiconductor layer on whichthe vertical semiconductor fins are grown. In this embodiment, aSchottky barrier would be formed between the semiconductor substrate 110and the subsequently formed metallic layer (which replaces thesacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer), resulting in possible higherleakage, which may be acceptable in certain applications.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the vertical drain contacts 260 are formed to adepth to enable contact with the respective metal-semiconductor alloyregions 131 and 141 within the respective drain regions 130 and 140. Theuse of metallic regions (e.g., the metal-semiconductor alloy regions 131and 141) with the drain regions 130 and 140 provides lower resistancedrain regions 130 and 140 as compared to drain regions formed entirelyof doped semiconductor material. Since the metal-semiconductor alloyregions 131 and 141 of the drain regions 130 and 140 extend along atleast a portion or the entire length of the vertical semiconductor fins160 and 170 (i.e., extend along the device width of the vertical FETdevices), the voltage drop along the drain regions 130 and 140 (from thedrain contacts 260 to the opposing ends of the drain regions 130 and140) is reduced, leading to higher Vds uniformity and therefore higherdrive current. This is achieved without penalizing device capacitance,since the change to the vertical FET device structure is in the metallicmaterials used to form the drain regions 130 and 140, rather than thegeometry. The resulting reduction in the drain resistance allows for areduction in the drain contact opening size (at some cost to externalresistance, depending on the given structure), which in turn will reduceparasitic capacitance and therefore dynamic power consumption.

It is to be understood that while the example embodiment of FIGS. 1A and1B shows the source regions 230/240 formed on top of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170 and the drain regions 130/140 formed in thesubstrate 110 below the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170, thevertical FET devices can be fabricated with drain regions formed on topof the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170 and source regions formed inthe substrate 110 below the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170. In thisregard, the term “source/drain region” as used herein means that a givensource/drain region can be either a source region or a drain region,depending on the application.

It is to be further understood that FIGS. 1A and 1B show an exampleembodiment in which the gate electrodes 190 in each device region R1 andR2 are commonly connected to one gate contact 280, the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 are commonly connected to respectivedrain regions 130 and 140, and the source regions 230 and 240 arecommonly connected to one source contact 270. In this embodiment, thegate structures 200 of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 (channelsegments) of the vertical FET device in the first device region R1 areconcurrently activated or deactivated based on the voltage applied tothe gate contact 280 in the device region R1. Similarly, the gatestructures 200 of the vertical semiconductor fins 170 of the verticalFET device in the second device region R1 are concurrently activated ordeactivated based on the voltage applied to the gate contact 280 in thesecond device region R2.

In an alternate embodiment, the gate structures 200 in the deviceregions R1 and R2 can be separate structures, each connected to aseparate gate contact. With this alternate embodiment, the differentchannel segments of the vertical FET devices can be independentlycontrolled to selectively activate or deactivate the different segmentsof the vertical FET devices, as needed, depending on the application(e.g., controllably adjust the driving strength (amount of current) ofthe vertical FET devices in the device regions R1 and R2).

Methods for fabricating the semiconductor device 100 shown in FIGS.1A/1B will now be discussed in further detail with reference to FIGS. 2through 42, which schematically illustrate the semiconductor device 100of FIGS. 1A/1B at various stages of fabrication, as well as alternateembodiments of the semiconductor device of FIG. 1. It is to beunderstood that the schematic views of the semiconductor structures inFIGS. 2-17A and 20-32A are perspective views of the semiconductor device100 of FIGS. 1A/1B at different stages of fabrication in an Y-Z planeshowing two separate device regions R1 and R2 that are formed adjacentto each other in the Y direction, and that the schematic views of thesemiconductor structures in FIGS. 32B-42 are perspective views of thesemiconductor device 100 of FIGS. 1A/1B at different stages offabrication the X-Z plane of FIGS. 1A/1B showing two separate deviceregions R1 and R2 that are formed adjacent to each other in the Xdirection.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure at aninitial stage of fabrication starting with a semiconductor substrate 110and a silicon nitride (SiN) layer 112 (or “pad nitride” layer) formed ona surface of the semiconductor substrate 110, according to an embodimentof the invention. In one embodiment, the substrate 110 comprises a bulksemiconductor substrate formed of, e.g., silicon, or other types ofsemiconductor substrate materials that are commonly used in bulksemiconductor fabrication processes such as germanium, silicon-germanium(SiGe) alloy, silicon carbide (SiC), silicon-germanium carbide (SiGeC)alloy, or compound semiconductor materials (e.g. III-V and II-VI).Non-limiting examples of compound semiconductor materials includegallium arsenide (GaAs), indium arsenide (InAs), and indium phosphide(InP).

In another embodiment, the substrate 110 may comprise a SOI (silicon oninsulator) substrate, which comprises an insulating layer (e.g., oxidelayer) disposed between a base semiconductor substrate (e.g., siliconsubstrate) and an active semiconductor layer (e.g., active siliconlayer) in which active circuit components are formed. In otherembodiments, the substrate 110 may be a semiconductor-on-insulatorsubstrate (SeOI), a germanium-on-insulator substrate (GeOI), or asilicon-germanium-on-insulator substrate (SGOI). In all embodiments, anupper surface or layer of the SOI substrate or the bulk semiconductorsubstrate, for example, may comprises single crystalline silicon. Thethickness of the substrate 110 will vary depending on the application.For example, the base substrate 112 may have a thickness in a range ofabout 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process comprises patterningthe pad nitride layer 112 to form an etch mask that is used to etchisolation trenches in the semiconductor substrate 110. For example, FIG.3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 2 after patterning the pad nitride layer 112 to forman etch mask comprising openings 112-1 that define isolation regions tobe formed in a surface of the semiconductor substrate 110, according toan embodiment of the invention. The pad nitride layer 112 can bepatterned using standard photolithography techniques. For example, alayer of photoresist material is deposited on top of the pad nitridelayer 112 and lithographically patterned (exposed and developed) to forma photoresist mask having a target pattern which is to be transferred tothe pad nitride layer 112. An etch process is then performed using thephotoresist mask to etch exposed portions of the pad nitride layer 112down to the surface of the semiconductor substrate 110 and thereby formthe openings 112-1 in the pad nitride layer 112. The etch process can beperformed using a dry etch process such as RIE (reactive ion etching) orother etch processes with etching chemistries that are suitable to etchthe material of the pad nitride layer 112.

The fabrication process continues with forming shallow trench isolation(STI) regions in the surface of the semiconductor substrate 110 todefine device regions. The STI regions can be formed using a standardtechnique that involves, e.g., etching a pattern of trenches in thesurface of the substrate 110, depositing one or moreinsulating/dielectric materials (such silicon dioxide) to fill thetrenches, and then removing the excess insulating/dielectric materialusing a technique such as chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP). TheSTI regions are formed to define a plurality of isolated device regionsin which vertical FETs according to embodiments of the invention areformed. FIGS. 4 and 5 schematically illustrate a method for fabricatingSTI regions in the surface of the semiconductor substrate 110.

In particular, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 3 after etching portions of thesemiconductor substrate 110 exposed through the openings 112-1 of thepad nitride layer 112 to form a pattern of trenches 114 in the surfaceof the substrate 110. The pattern of trenches 114 can be formed using astandard dry etch process to recess the exposed surface regions of thesubstrate 110 to form the trenches 114. Further, FIG. 5 is schematiccross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 4 afterfilling the trenches 114 with insulating/dielectric material to form STIregions 120. The insulating/dielectric material may include, forexample, a conformal SiN liner that is deposited initially to line thesidewalls and bottom surface of the trenches 114, followed by a blanketdeposition of an oxide material such as SiO₂ or silicon oxynitride(SiON) to fill the trenches 114. The overburden (excess)insulating/dielectric material is removed using CMP, for example, byplanarizing the surface of the semiconductor structure down to thesurface of the remaining portions of the pad nitride layer 112, as shownin FIG. 5.

A next process module in the exemplary fabrication process comprises adrain formation process to form drain regions for the vertical FETdevices, as schematically illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9, forexample. The drain process module comprises recessing each of the deviceregions in which a first type of FET device (e.g., n-type FET) will beformed, and forming a drain region for each of the first type of FETdevices, followed by recessing each of the device regions in which asecond type of FET device (e.g., p-type FET) will be formed, and forminga drain region for each of the second type of FET devices. For example,FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 5 after recessing the first device region R1 byetching the pad nitride layer 112 and the underlying portion of thesubstrate 110 to form a recess 125 within the active area defined by thesurrounding STI regions 120.

In one embodiment, the recess 125 is formed by a process whichcomprises, for example, forming a mask (e.g., photoresist mask) over thesurface of the semiconductor structure, which exposes the first deviceregion R1 (as well as other device regions in which the same type ofvertical FET structure will be formed), followed by one or more separateetch processes to remove the portion of the pad nitride 112 in thedevice region R1, and etch down the underlying portion of the substrate110 to form the recess 125. In one embodiment, the pad nitride 112 canbe etched using a wet etch process or a dry etch process (e.g., RIE).The underlying substrate 110 can be etched using a directional RIE etchprocess or any suitable etch process that etches the material of thesubstrate 110 selective to the insulating material of the surroundingSTI regions 120. As shown in FIG. 6, the recess 125 is formed to a depthsuch that a bottom surface 125-1 of the recess 125 is less than a depthof the adjacent STI regions 120. In one embodiment, the STI regions 120have a depth in the range of about 10 nm to about 300 nm.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process comprises forming adrain region in the device region R1. For example, FIG. 7 is a schematiccross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 6 afterforming a drain region 130 on the bottom surface 125-1 of the recess 125within the device region R1. In one embodiment of the invention, asshown in FIG. 7, the drain region 130 comprises a stack of epitaxiallygrown semiconductor layers comprising a first epitaxial semiconductorlayer 132, a second epitaxial semiconductor layer 134, and a thirdepitaxial semiconductor layer 136. The second epitaxial semiconductorlayer 134 comprises a sacrificial layer that is at least partiallyremoved and replaced with a transition metal which is used to form ametal-semiconductor alloy region (as discussed in further detail belowwith reference to FIGS. 36, 37 and 38). In one embodiment of theinvention, the drain region 130 is formed with a total thickness in arange of about 10 nm to about 250 nm.

In forming the drain region 130, the epitaxial growth of the firstepitaxial semiconductor layer 132 starts on the recessed surface 125-1of the semiconductor substrate 110 at the bottom of the recess 125, andcontinues with a bottom-up epitaxial growth of the second and thirdepitaxial semiconductor layers 134 and 136. The exposed recessed surface125-1 of the substrate 110 can be cleaned and prepared for epitaxialgrowth of the first epitaxial semiconductor layer 132. The epitaxialsemiconductor layers 132, 134 and 136 can be epitaxially grown usingknown techniques, such as CVD (chemical vapor deposition), MOCVD(metal-organic CVD), LPCVD (Low Pressure CVD), MBE (molecular beamepitaxy), VPE (vapor-phase epitaxy), or other known epitaxial growthtechniques which are suitable for the given process flow. The epitaxialdeposition is performed selectively so that epitaxial material is notformed on the exposed surfaces of the STI regions 120 and nitride masklayer 112.

The type of epitaxial semiconductor materials that are used to form theheteroepitaxial stack structure of the drain region 130 will varydepending on various factors. These factors include, but are not limitedto, the type of material of the substrate 110, the type of material usedto subsequently form the channel fin structures, the device type (e.g.,n-type or p-type) that is to be formed in the given device region, andthe etch selectivity of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer134 with respect to the first and third epitaxial semiconductor layers132 and 136.

More specifically, the epitaxial semiconductor layers 132/134/136 of thedrain region 130 are selected to have the same or similar latticeconstants to thereby minimize mechanical stress and reduce latticedefects within the heteroepitaxial stack structure of the drain region130 and at the interfaces between the drain region, the substrate 110,and subsequently formed vertical semiconductor fins. For example, thefirst epitaxial semiconductor layer 132 is preferably formed of asemiconductor material that has a lattice constant which is the same as,or closely matched to, the lattice constant of the material of therecessed surface 125-1 of the semiconductor substrate 110. Further, thesecond epitaxial semiconductor layer 134 is preferably formed of asemiconductor material that has a lattice constant which is the same as,or closely matched to, the lattice constant of the material of the firstepitaxial semiconductor layer 134. Moreover, the third epitaxialsemiconductor layer 136 is preferably formed of a semiconductor materialthat has a lattice constant which is the same as, or closely matched to,the lattice constant of the material of the second epitaxial layer 134,as well as the epitaxial semiconductor material that used to form thevertical semiconductor fins.

In one embodiment of the invention, assuming that the recessed surface125-1 of the substrate 110 comprises crystalline Si or SiGe, forexample, the heteroepitaxial stack structure of the drain region 130 canbe formed with layers of epitaxial Si and epitaxial SiGe. In particular,for an n-type vertical FET, the first epitaxial semiconductor layer 132can be epitaxial Si, the second (sacrificial) epitaxial semiconductorlayer 134 can be epitaxial SiGe, and the third epitaxial layer 136 canbe epitaxial Si. With a Si/SiGe/Si heteroepitaxial stack, thesacrificial SiGe layer is formed with a sufficient amount of Ge contentso that the sacrificial SiGe layer can be etched selectively to theadjacent epitaxial Si layers. For a p-type vertical FET, the firstepitaxial semiconductor layer 132 can be epitaxial SiGe, the second(sacrificial) epitaxial semiconductor layer 134 can be epitaxial Si, andthe third epitaxial layer 136 can be epitaxial SiGe. With a SiGe/Si/SiGeheteroepitaxial stack, the sacrificial Si layer can be etchedselectively to the adjacent epitaxial SiGe layers assuming the SiGelayers have a sufficient concentration of Ge to allow for such etchselectivity.

In another embodiment, the drain region 130 may comprise aSiGe/SiGe/SiGe heteroepitaxial stack, wherein the middle sacrificialSiGe layer (e.g., epitaxial semiconductor layer 134) is formed withconcentration of Ge that sufficiently greater than the Ge concentrationof the adjacent upper and lower SiGe layers (e.g., epitaxialsemiconductor layers 132 and 136), which allows the middle sacrificialSiGe layer to etched selective to the adjacent upper and lower epitaxialSiGe layers. In other alternative embodiments, for an n-type verticalFET, the drain region 130 can be formed using SiGe, and for a p-typevertical FET, the drain region 130 can be formed using SiC.

Moreover, the various layers of the drain region 130 can be doped usingstandard doping techniques. For example, the doping of a given layer ofthe drain region 130 can be performed in-situ during the epitaxialgrowth of the layer, or ex-situ by ion implantation. For example, thedrain region 130 can be doped with Group III elements (for p-typevertical FET devices) or Group V elements (for n-type vertical FETdevices). Typical dopants include Boron, Arsenic, Phosphorus, Gallium,Antimony, etc. For example, boron is a p-type dopant, whereas Phosphorusis an n-type dopant.

In other embodiments, for high-performance applications, theheteroepitaxial stack structure of the drain region 130 can be formedwith different III-V compound semiconductor material layers including,but not limited to, GaAs (Gallium Arsenide), InP (Indium Phosphide),InGaAs (Indium Gallium Arsenide), etc. As is known in the art, the useof a compound semiconductor material (e.g., III-V compound semiconductormaterial) provides a higher carrier mobility than Si and, therefore,allows for the fabrication of high-speed and high-performancesemiconductor devices.

As further shown in FIG. 7, after forming the drain region 130 in thefirst device region R1, a hardmask layer 138 is formed on the surface ofthe semiconductor structure to cover, e.g., the drain region 130, theSTI regions 120, and the pad nitride layer 112. In one embodiment, thehardmask layer 138 is formed by conformally depositing an oxide materialover the surface of the semiconductor structure. In other alternativeembodiments, the hardmask layer 138 can be formed by conformallydepositing a boride, carbide, or a nitride material. The hardmask layer138 serves to protect the drain regions (e.g., drain region 130) thatare formed in the first device region R1 when forming the drain regionsin the second device region R1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 7 after etching the second device region R2 to form arecess 127 within the active area defined by the surrounding STI regions120. In one embodiment, the recess 127 is formed by a process whichcomprises, for example, forming a mask (e.g., photoresist mask) over thesurface of the semiconductor structure, which exposes the second deviceregion R2 (as well as other device regions in which the same type ofvertical FET structure will be formed), followed by one or more separateetch processes to remove the portion of the hardmask layer 138 and thepad nitride layer 112 in the second device region R2, and etch down theunderlying portion of the substrate 110 to form the recess 127. Thehardmask layer 138, the pad nitride layer 112, and the substrate 110 areetched using one or more sequential etch processes with etchingchemistries that are suitable to etch the respective materials of thehardmask layer 138, the pad nitride layer 112, and the substrate 110. Asshown in FIG. 8, the recess 127 is formed to a depth such that a bottomsurface 127-1 of the recess 127 is less than a depth of the adjacent STIregions 120.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process comprises forming adrain region in the second device region R2 and recessing the STIregions 120. For example, FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional sideview of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 8 after forming a drainregion 140 on the bottom surface 127-1 of the recess 127 within thedevice region R2. As shown in FIG. 9, the drain region 140 comprises astack of epitaxially grown semiconductor layers comprising a firstepitaxial semiconductor layer 142, a second epitaxial semiconductorlayer 144, and a third epitaxial semiconductor layer 146. As notedabove, the second epitaxial semiconductor layer 144 comprises asacrificial layer that is at least partially removed and replaced with atransition metal which is used to form a metal-semiconductor alloyregion (as discussed in further detail below with reference to FIGS. 36,37 and 38). In one embodiment of the invention, the drain region 140 isformed with a total thickness in a range of about 10 nm to about 250 nm.

Similar to the factors discussed above with respect to formation of thedrain region 130 in the device region R1, the type of epitaxialsemiconductor materials that are used to form the heteroepitaxial stackstructure of the drain region 140 will vary depending on various factorincluding, but not limited to, the type of material of the substrate110, the type of material used to subsequently form the channel finstructures, the device type (e.g., n-type or p-type) that is to beformed in the given device region R2, and the etch selectivity of thesacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer 144 with respect to the firstand third epitaxial semiconductor layers 142 and 146 of the drain region140. It is to be understood that while embodiments are described withdrain regions 130 and 140 formed on the substrate 110, this is fordescriptive purposes only and should not be construed as a limitation,as the drain regions 130 and 140 shown throughout the figures mayalternatively be source regions of the vertical FET devices.

After forming the drain region 140, the remaining hardmask layer 138 isremoved from the surface of the semiconductor structure. In addition,any remaining pad nitride material 112 is removed from the surface ofthe semiconductor substrate. Following the pad nitride removal, the STIregions 120 are etched to recess the STI regions 120 down to a levelthat is slightly higher than an upper surface of the drain regions 130and 140, as shown in FIG. 9. After recessing the STI regions 120, a nextprocess module in the exemplary fabrication process comprises a bottomspacer and channel formation process module, as schematicallyillustrated in FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13, for example.

In particular, FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 9 after blanket depositing a layer ofinsulating material 150 over the semiconductor structure and thenplanarizing the layer of insulating material 150 (via CMP, for example)to provide a flat, uniform upper surface 150-1. The layer of insulatingmaterial 150 is utilized during subsequent processing steps to formtrenches that define a pattern of vertical semiconductor fins (orvertical semiconductor channels) for the vertical FET devices, and todefine a bottom spacer for the vertical FETs. As shown in FIG. 10, thelayer of insulating material 150 is planarized so that the upper surface150-1 reaches a target height H above the drain regions 130 and 140,wherein the height H defines a baseline vertical height of the verticalsemiconductor fins that are to be subsequently formed.

In one embodiment, the layer of insulating material 150 comprises alow-K dielectric material such as SiO₂, SiN, SiBCN or SiOCN, or otherdielectric materials that are suitable for the given application andprocess flow such as SiN, hydrogenated silicon carbon oxide, siliconbased low-k dielectrics, porous dielectrics, or organic dielectricsincluding porous organic dielectrics. In addition, the layer ofinsulating material 150 may be formed using known suitable depositiontechniques, such as, for example, atomic layer deposition (ALD),chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced chemical vapordeposition (PECVD), spin on deposition, physical vapor deposition (PVD),or molecular beam deposition (MBD).

Next, FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 10 after patterning the layer ofinsulating material 150 to form trenches 152 through the layer ofinsulating material 150 within the device regions R1 and R2. Thetrenches 152 can be formed using known techniques. For example, a layerof photoresist material is deposited on top of the layer of insulatingmaterial 150 and lithographically patterned (exposed and developed) toform a photoresist mask having a target pattern which defines acorresponding pattern of the trenches 152 to be transferred to the layerof insulating material 150. A directional dry etch process (e.g., plasmaetch) is then performed using the photoresist mask to etch the trenches152 in the layer of insulating material 150 down to the drain regions130 and 140. With this process, the directional dry etch process isperformed with an etch chemistry that is suitable to form high-aspectratio trenches 152 with substantially vertical sidewalls in the layer ofinsulating material 150. The “high aspect ratio” trenches 152 aresubsequently filled with epitaxial semiconductor material to fabricatevertical semiconductor fins for the vertical FET devices.

As is known in the art, the “aspect ratio” of a trench is defined as theratio between the height H and the width W of the trench. In oneembodiment of the invention, the trenches 152 (which have a width W andheight H) are formed with an aspect ratio of about 1:3 or greater. Morespecifically, in one embodiment of the invention, the trenches 152 areformed with a width W in a range of about 8 nm to about 20 nm, and aheight H in a range of about 100 nm to about 150 nm. In addition, thetrenches 152 in each device region R1 and R2 are spaced with a pitch ina range of about 20 nm to about 200 nm.

A next step in the fabrication process comprises epitaxially growingsemiconductor material in the trenches 152. For example, FIG. 12 is across-sectional schematic view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 11after completion of an epitaxy process in which the trenches 120 arecompletely filled with epitaxially grown semiconductor material to formvertical semiconductor fins 160 in the device region R1 and verticalsemiconductor fins 170 in the device region R2. With this process, theepitaxial growth in the trenches 152 starts on the surface of theepitaxial drain regions 130 and 140 at the bottom of the trenches 120,and continues with a bottom-up epitaxial growth of semiconductormaterial until the trenches 152 are over slightly overfilled with theepitaxial semiconductor material protruding from the trenches 152 pastthe surface 150-1 of the insulating material 150. A CMP process is thenperformed to remove the overburden epitaxial material and planarize theupper surface of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170, as shownin FIG. 12. The vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170 can be formedwith any type of epitaxial semiconductor material including, but notlimited to, Si, Si_(x)Ge_(y), GaAs, InGaAs, or other typed of epitaxialcompound semiconductor material which is suitable for the targetapplication.

In one embodiment, the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170 in therespective device regions R1 an R2 are grown concurrently when the sameepitaxial semiconductor material is used to form the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170. In another embodiment, the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 in the respective device regions R1 an R2are grown separately when different epitaxial semiconductor materialsare used to form the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170. In oneembodiment, when there is a lattice mismatch between the materials ofthe drain regions 130 and 140 and the epitaxial semiconductor materialused to form the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170, a high-aspectratio trapping (ART) technique can be utilized to grow epitaxialsemiconductor material in the trenches 152 with a relatively defect freemonocrystalline structure of the epitaxial semiconductor material (e.g.,III-V material).

The ART technique is implemented to improve the quality of III-Vheteroepitaxial films that are grown on Si, for example due to thepotential for terminating defects at the sidewalls of the high aspectratio trenches 152 that enclose the region of epitaxial growth. ARTtakes advantage of the well-known “necking” effect during epitaxialgrowth where threading dislocations and other defects are confined atthe bottom of the trenches 152, while defects are suppressed in thelattice of materials at the non-crystalline trench sidewalls of thelayer of insulating material 150, especially where the sidewalls arerelatively high with respect to the growth area. As such, the growth ofa III-V compound semiconductor material, for example, can be performeddirectly on the surface of the drain regions 130 and 140 even though alattice-mismatch may be present between the epitaxial material of thedrain regions 130 and 140, and the epitaxial material (e.g., III-Vmaterial) used to form the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170.

After the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170 are formed, a nextstep in the fabrication process comprises etching down the layer ofinsulation material 150 to form a bottom spacer for the vertical FETdevices. For example, FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional side viewof the semiconductor structure of FIG. 12 after recessing the layer ofinsulating material 150 to form a lower insulating spacer 155 in each ofthe device regions R1 and R2. With this process, the layer of insulatingmaterial 150 is etched highly selective (e.g., greater than 10:1) to thematerial of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170. The etchprocess can be performed using wet etch process with an etch solutionchemistry that is configured to isotropically etch the layer ofinsulating material 150 highly selective to the epitaxial material ofthe vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170. Alternatively, a low plasmaetch process can be used to etch the etch the layer of insulatingmaterial 150 highly selective to the epitaxial material of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170.

As shown in FIG. 13, the layer of insulating material 150 is recesseddown to the upper surfaces of the STI regions 120, wherein the remainingportion of the insulating material 150 between the STI regions 120 formsthe lower insulating spacers 155. The lower insulating spacers 155 serveto insulate the drain regions 130 and 140 from gate electrodes that aresubsequently formed on the sidewalls of the vertical semiconductor fins160 and 170.

It is to be understood that while each device region R1 is shown to havethree vertical semiconductor fins 160 and device region R2 is shown tohave three vertical semiconductor fins 170, the number of verticalsemiconductor fins which are used to form a vertical FET in the deviceregions R1 and R2 can be more or less than 3, depending on the intendedcurrent handling capacity of the vertical FET devices. In oneembodiment, the height H of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170is in a range of 30 nm to about 100 nm, the width W of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 is in the range of about 5 nm to about 30nm, and a length L of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170 is ina range of about 10 nm to about 2000 nm. In a non-limiting example, eachsemiconductor fin 160 and 160 may have a width W of about 5 nm, a lengthL of about 100 nm, and a height H of about 200 nm.

After forming the lower insulating spacers 155, a next process module inthe exemplary fabrication process comprises a metal gate structureprocess module to form a metal gate structure around portions of thesidewalls of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170, asschematically illustrated in FIGS. 14 through 23. For example, FIG. 14is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structureof FIG. 13 after forming a gate stack structure 180 on each of theexposed sidewalls of vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170. In oneembodiment the gate stack structures 180 each comprise a gate dielectriclayer formed on the vertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170, and a workfunction metal layer formed on the gate dielectric layer. In oneembodiment, the gate stack structures 180 are formed, e.g., bydepositing one or more conformal layers of gate dielectric material overthe structure of FIG. 13, and depositing one or more conformal layers ofwork function metal over the conformal layer(s) of gate dielectricmaterial. Thereafter, one or more directional dry etch processes areperformed using known etching methods and etch chemistries to remove theportions of the gate dielectric material and work function metal on topof the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170 and other horizontal surfacesof the semiconductor structure, while maintaining the gate dielectricmaterial and work function metal on the sidewalls of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170, as shown in FIG. 14.

The type of dielectric material(s) used to form the gate dielectriclayer will vary depending on the application. For example, the conformalgate dielectric layer may comprise, e.g., nitride, oxynitride, or oxideor high-k materials such as, HfO₂, HfSiO₄, HfSiON, ZrO₂, Al₂O₃, TiO₂,Ta₂O₅ La₂O₃, SrTiO₃, LaAlO₃, and combinations thereof. In one embodimentof the invention, the conformal dielectric material has a thickness in arange of about 0.5 nm to about 2.5 nm, which will vary depending on thetarget application. The conformal dielectric layer is deposited usingknown methods such as ALD, CVD, or PVD, for example. Further, the workfunction metal may comprise one or more of, for example, Zr, W, Ta, Hf,Ti, Al, Ru, Pa, metal oxides, metal carbides, metal nitrides, transitionmetal aluminides (e.g. Ti₃Al, ZrAl), TaC, TiC, TaMgC, or any combinationthereof. The gate stack structures 180 formed on the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 may be the same material or differentmaterials, depending on the application (e.g., n-type or p-type verticalFET). When different materials are used to form the gate stackstructures 180 in the different device regions R1 and R2, the gate stackstructures 180 in the device regions R1 and R2 can be separately formedusing known techniques. In one embodiment, the total thickness of thegate stack structures 180 is in a range of about 5 nm to about 15 nm.

A next step in the exemplary process flow is to form a gate electrodelayer that surrounds the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170. Forexample, FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 14 after depositing gate electrodematerial 190 to encapsulate the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170 inthe gate electrode material 190. Further, FIG. 16 is a schematiccross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 15after etching/planarizing the layer of gate electrode material 190 downto the upper surface of the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170 toprovide a planarized surface 190-1 of the gate electrode material 190.In one embodiment of the invention, the gate electrode material 190 isformed of low-resistance conductive material including, but not limitedto tungsten, aluminum, or any metallic or conductive material that iscommonly used to form gate electrode structures. The gate electrodematerial 190 can be deposited by CVD or PE-CVD, and planarized via CMP.

Following planarization of the gate electrode material 190, a next stepcomprises recessing portions of the gate electrode material 190 in thedevice regions R1 and R2 to define a gate length L for the vertical FETsin the device regions R1 and R2, as schematically illustrated in FIGS.17A, 17B, and 17C. In particular, FIG. 17A is a schematiccross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 16after recessing the layer of gate electrode material 190 down betweenthe vertical semiconductor fins 160/170 in the device regions R1 and R2such that a recessed surface 190-2 of the gate electrode material 190has a resulting thickness that defines a gate length L. FIG. 17B is aschematic top view of the device region R1 of FIG. 17A within the X-Yplane (such as shown in FIG. 1B). In addition, FIG. 17C is a schematiccross-sectional side view of the device region R1 of FIG. 17B takenalong line 17C-17C in FIG. 17B (i.e., within the X-Z plane). The gateelectrode recess process is performed to define the gate length L of thevertical FETs in the device regions R1 and R2, while leaving a portionof the gate electrode material 190 at the end portions of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170 at the level of the planarized surface 190-1of the gate electrode material 190. In one embodiment of the invention,the height L of the recessed surface 190-2 of the gate electrodematerial 190 above the surface of the bottom dielectric spacer 155 is ina range of about 15 nm to about 300 nm.

In particular, as shown in FIGS. 17B and 17C, prior to recessing thegate electrode material 190, a masking material (e.g., oxide material)is deposited on the planarized surface 190-1 of the 10 gate electrodematerial 190 and patterned to form an etch mask 192 which coversportions of the gate electrode material 190 which are not to berecessed. As shown in FIG. 17C, when the gate electrode material 190 isetched down to form the recessed surface 190-2, a portion 195 of thegate electrode material 190 covered by the etch mask 192 is not etched.This portion 195 comprises an extended portion that serves as a gatecontact region on which a gate contact is subsequently formed to thegate electrode material 190.

While FIG. 17B illustrates an embodiment of the device region R1 inwhich a vertical FET device is formed with three parallel verticalsemiconductor fins 160 disposed side by side, in other embodiments ofthe invention, the vertical semiconductor fins 160 of the vertical FETdevice can be arranged in different configurations. For example, FIG. 18is a schematic top view of another embodiment of the device region R1showing two vertical semiconductor fins 160 arranged end-to-end with thesurrounding gate electrode material 190 having the gate contact region195 disposed between the ends of the vertical semiconductor fins 160.Moreover, FIG. 19 is a schematic top view of another embodiment of thedevice region R1 showing two vertical semiconductor fins 160 arrangedside by side, and end-to-end with at least one other semiconductor fin160, with the surrounding gate electrode material 190 having the gatecontact region 195 disposed between the ends of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process comprises removing aportion of the gate stack structures 180 on the sidewalls of the upperportions of the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170. For example, FIG.20 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 17A after recessing the exposed portions of the gatestack structures 180 on the sidewalls of the vertical semiconductor fins160/170 down to a level of the recessed surface 190-2 of the gateelectrode material 190, according to an embodiment of the invention. Thegate dielectric material and work function metal of the gate stackstructures 180 can be etched highly selective to the materials of thevertical semiconductor fins 160/170 and the gate electrode material 190using known etching techniques and suitable etch chemistries. In oneembodiment of the invention, the exposed portions of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170 extend above the recessed surface 190-2 in arange of about 25 nm to about 100 nm.

Following the recess of the gate stack structures 180, a next step inthe illustrative fabrication process comprises forming disposablespacers that are used to etch the gate electrode material 190 andthereby form individual gate electrodes on the gate stack structures 180surrounding the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170. For example, FIG.21 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 20 after forming disposable spacers 198 thatencapsulate the exposed portions of the vertical semiconductor fins160/170, according to an embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment,the disposable spacers 198 are formed by depositing a thin conformallayer of oxide or nitride spacer material (e.g., SiO₂, SiN) over thesemiconductor structure shown in FIG. 20 using, for example, an ALD orPE-ALD process, followed by an etch process to pattern the conformallayer of spacer material and thereby form the individual disposablespacers 198 as shown in FIG. 21. The disposable spacers 198 havesidewalls that extend past the sidewalls of the gate stack structures180 at a given distance which defines the thickness of the individualgate electrodes that are to be formed on the sidewall surfaces of thegate stack structures 180 after etching the layer of gate electrodematerial 190 using the disposable spacers 198 as an etch mask.

In particular, FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 21 after using the disposable spacers198 as an etch mask to etch the exposed portions of the gate electrodematerial 190 to form metal gate structures 200 on the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170, according to an embodiment of the invention.In addition, FIG. 23 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 22 after removing the disposable spacers198 from the upper portions of the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170.As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the exposed portion of the gate electrodematerial 190 is recessed down to the STI regions 120 and bottom spacer155 in the device regions R1 and R2. On the other hand, portions of thegate electrode material 190 that are covered by the disposable spacers198 remain on the sidewall surfaces of the gate stack structure 180 toform the metal gate structures 200. Each metal gate structure 200comprises an individual gate electrode 190 and gate stack structure 180(gate dielectric and work function metal layer). In one embodiment ofthe invention, the gate electrode material 190 which remains on thesurfaces of a given gate stack structure 180 has a thickness in a rangeof about 2 nm to about 5 nm.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process is to form the upperinsulating spacer 215, using a process flow as schematically illustratedin FIGS. 24 and 25. In particular, FIG. 24 is a schematiccross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 23after depositing a layer of insulating spacer material 210 over thesurface of the semiconductor structure and planarizing the layer ofinsulating spacer material 210 down to the upper surface of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160/170 to provide a planarized surface 210-1 of theinsulating spacer material 210. In one embodiment of the invention, theinsulating spacer material 210 comprises a low-K dielectric materialsuch as SiO2, SiN, SiBCN or SiOCN, or other dielectric materials thatare suitable for the given application and process flow such as SiN,hydrogenated silicon carbon oxide, silicon based low-k dielectrics,porous dielectrics, or organic dielectrics including porous organicdielectrics. In addition, the insulating spacer material 210 may beformed using known suitable deposition techniques, such as, for example,ALD, CVD, PECVD, spin on deposition, PVD, or MBD.

Further, FIG. 25 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 24 after etching the insulating spacermaterial 210 down to form the upper insulating spacer 215 having arecessed surface 210-2 below an upper surface of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160-170. In one embodiment of the invention, theinsulating spacer material 210 is recessed using a directional dry etchprocess (e.g., RIE) to recess the layer of insulating spacer materialand expose upper portions of the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170, asshown in FIG. 25. The etch process is performed to etch the layer ofinsulating spacer material 210 highly selective to the material of thevertical semiconductor fins 160/170 to form the upper insulating spacer215. The upper insulating spacer 215 serves to insulate the metal gateelectrodes 200 from surrounding structures. In one embodiment of theinvention, the lower insulating spacers 155 and upper insulating spacer215 are made of the same material. In another embodiment, the spacers155 and 215 can be formed of different low-k dielectric materials.

Following formation of the upper insulating spacer 215, the process flowcontinues with forming source regions of the vertical FET devices usinga process flow as schematically illustrated in FIGS. 26˜31. Inparticular, FIG. 26 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 25 after forming an ILD (inter-leveldielectric layer) 220 over the upper insulating spacer 215 and forming ahardmask layer 222 over the ILD layer 220, according to an embodiment ofthe invention. The ILD layer 220 is formed by depositing a conformallayer of dielectric material over the surface of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 25, and then planarizing the dielectric material downto the upper surface of the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170. In oneembodiment of the invention, the ILD layer 220 is formed of a materialthat is different from the dielectric material of the upper insulatingspacer 215. For example, the ILD layer 220 may be formed of an oxide,such as SiO₂, using suitable deposition techniques, whereas the upperinsulating spacer 215 is formed of a silicon nitride. In one embodiment,the hardmask layer 222 is formed by depositing layer of nitridematerial, such as SiN, or some other suitable material that can beetched selectively to the ILD layer 220.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process comprises patterningthe hardmask layer 222 to expose portions of the ILD layer 220 in thedevice regions R1, and then etching the upper portions of the exposedvertical semiconductor fins 160 to form openings in which source regionsare epitaxially grown. For example, FIG. 27 is a schematiccross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 26after patterning the hardmask layer 222 to expose portions of the ILDlayer 220 in the device regions R1, and etching down the upper portionsof the vertical semiconductor fins 160 to form openings 220-1 in the ILDlayer 220. In one embodiment, the vertical semiconductor fins 160 arerecessed down to at least the level of the upper insulating spacer 215,for example, wherein the upper surface of vertical semiconductor fins160 are approximately co-planar with the interface between the ILD layer220 and the upper insulating spacer 215, as shown in example embodimentof FIG. 27.

Next, FIG. 28 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 27 after forming source regions 230 ontop of the vertical semiconductor fins 160 in the openings 220-1 in theILD layer 220. The source regions 230 comprise epitaxial semiconductormaterial that is grown on top of the vertical semiconductor fins 160using known techniques, such that the source regions 230 have the samecrystal structure and orientation as the underlying epitaxial materialof the vertical semiconductor fins 160. Depending on the type ofvertical FETs that are being formed in the device regions R1, the sourceregions 230 can be formed of epitaxial Si, SiGe, SiC, or SiP materials,and doped with boron, phosphorus, or carbon.

For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the source regions 230may comprise silicon-germanium structures that are epitaxially grownusing known techniques such as CVD, MBE, or MOCVD, wherein SiH4 and GeH4can be used as the sources for epitaxial growth of the SiGe source/drainstructures. In another embodiment, the semiconductor source regions 230may be formed by epitaxial growth of carbon-doped silicon (Si:C) using aSi containing gas such as SiH₄ and a carbon containing gas such as CH₄.In other embodiments, the epitaxial source regions 230 may be in-situdoped during epitaxial growth by adding a dopant gas to the sourcedeposition gas (i.e., the Si-containing gas). Exemplary dopant gases mayinclude a boron-containing gas such as BH₃ for p-type vertical FETs or aphosphorus or arsenic containing gas such as PH₃ or AsH₃ for n-typevertical FETs, wherein the concentration of impurity in the gas phasedetermines its concentration in the epitaxially grown source regions230.

Following formation of the source regions 230, the remaining portion ofthe hardmask layer 222 is removed, and the process is repeated to formsource regions in the device region R2. For example, FIG. 29 is aschematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure ofFIG. 28 after removing the first hardmask 222, forming a second hardmasklayer 224 over the ILD layer 220, and patterning the second hardmasklayer 224 to expose portions of the ILD layer 220 in the device regionsR2. The second hardmask layer 224 is formed by depositing layer ofnitride material, such as SiN, or some other suitable material that canbe etched selectively to the ILD layer 220.

Next, FIG. 30 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 29 after etching down the upper portionsof the vertical semiconductor fins 170 to form openings 220-2 in the ILDlayer 220. In one embodiment, the vertical semiconductor fins 170 arerecessed down to at least the level of the upper insulating spacer 215,for example, wherein the upper surface of vertical semiconductor fins170 are approximately co-planar with the interface between the ILD layer220 and the upper insulating spacer 215, as shown in example embodimentof FIG. 30.

FIG. 31 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 30 after forming source regions 240 on top of thevertical semiconductor fins 170 in the openings 220-2 in the ILD layer220. The source regions 240 comprise epitaxial semiconductor materialthat is grown on top of the vertical semiconductor fins 170 using knowntechniques, such that the source regions 240 have the same crystalstructure and orientation as the underlying epitaxial material of thevertical semiconductor fins 170. Depending on the type of vertical FETsthat are being formed in the device regions R2, the source regions 240can be formed of epitaxial Si, SiGe, SiC, or SiP materials, and dopedwith boron, phosphorus, or carbon.

Following formation of the source regions, the second hardmask layer 224is removed, resulting in the semiconductor structure shown in FIG. 32A.In particular, FIG. 32A is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 31 after removing the second hardmasklayer 224 to expose the ILD layer 220 and the source regions 230 and 240in the device regions R1 and R2. Further, FIG. 32B is an exemplary sideschematic view of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 32A within the X-Zplane (similar to the view of FIG. 1A). FIG. 32B shows an entire lengthof the vertical semiconductor fins 160/170 extending in the X directionin the device regions R1 and R2. As shown in FIG. 32B, the drain regions130 and 140 extend underneath an entire length of the respectivevertical semiconductor fins 160 and 170. One side of each of the drainregions 130 and 140 is disposed adjacent to the STI region 120 whichisolates the device regions R1 and R2, while the opposing sides of thedrain regions 130 and 140 extend past the ends of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 to provide sufficient area to enableformation of drain contacts to the respective drain regions 130 and 140,as explained in further detail below.

A next step in the illustrative fabrication process comprises formingmetallic layers in the drain regions 130 and 140 and forming verticaldrain contacts to the metallic layers in the drain regions 130 and 140using a process flow as schematically illustrated in FIGS. 33-40. As aninitial step, FIG. 33 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 32B after forming a capping layer 250over the ILD layer 220. The capping layer 250 serves to protect thesource regions 230 and 240 during subsequent process flows, and servesas an extension of the ILD layer 220. In one embodiment of theinvention, the capping layer 250 is formed of the same material (e.g.oxide) as the ILD layer 220.

Next, FIG. 34 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 33 after depositing and patterning ahardmask layer 252 to form an etch mask having a pattern that is used toetch openings for drain contacts, according to an embodiment of theinvention. The hardmask layer 252 can be formed of a material (e.g.,silicon nitride) that allows the underlying layers to be etchedselective to the hardmask layer 250. As shown in FIG. 34, the hardmasklayer 252 comprises openings 252-1 that are aligned to the extendedportions of the drain regions 130 and 140.

The hardmask layer 252 is used to etch openings through the underlyinglayers to expose the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layers 134 and144 of the respective drain regions 130 and 140. For example, FIG. 35 isa schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure ofFIG. 34 after etching openings 254 through the underlying layers (250,220, 215, 155, 136, 146) to expose the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layers 134 and 144 of the respective drain regions 130 and140. The openings 254 can be etched using one or more directional RIEetch processes with etch chemistries suitable to etch the associatedmaterials, or other suitable methods. As shown in FIG. 35, the openings254 are etched to a depth that is sufficient to at least reach an uppersurface of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layers 134 and 144 ofthe respective drain regions 130 and 140.

A next step in the illustrative process comprises removing all or atleast a portion of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layers 134and 144 of the respective drain regions 130 and 140. For example, FIG.36 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 35 after removing the entire sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer 134 of the drain region 130 and removing a portionof the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer 144 of the drain region140, thereby forming voids in the drain regions 130 and 140. Thesacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layers 134 and 144 are removed orpartially removed using an isotropic etch process (dry or wet etch) withan etch chemistry that etches the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductorlayers 134 and 144 selective to the other epitaxial semiconductor layers132/136 and 142/146 of the respective drain regions 130 and 140 so thatsuch layers 132/136 and 142/146 are not removed. Moreover, the etchingof the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layers 134 and 144 isperformed selective to the materials of the underlying layers 250, 220,215 and 155 to prevent lateral etching of the sidewalls of the openings254. The selective etching of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductorlayers 134 and 144 is preferably performed with an etch rate ratiogreater than about 10:1.

It is to be understood that for illustrative purposes, FIG. 36 shows anexample of both full and partial removal of the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layers 134 and 144, respectively, of the drain regions 130and 140. However, in other embodiments of the invention, the sacrificialepitaxial semiconductor layers of all drain regions (e.g., drain regions130 and 140) can be fully removed, or the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layers of all drain regions can be partially removed.

Following the removal (or partial removal) of the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layers 134 and 144 of the respective drain regions 130 and140, the voids in the drain regions 130 and 140 regions are filled witha metallic material, which is used to combine with at least a portion ofthe remaining epitaxial semiconductor layers of the drain regions 130and 140 to form metallic-semiconductor alloy regions within the drainregions 130 and 140. In particular, as an initial step, FIG. 37 is aschematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure ofFIG. 36 after depositing a layer of metallic material 256 to fill thevoids in the drain regions 130 and 140 with the metallic material. Thelayer of metallic material 256 is conformally deposited on the exposedsurfaces of the semiconductor structure using ALD or other suitabledeposition methods (e.g., PVD, CVD, etc.). The layer of metallicmaterial 256 can include a transition metal such as nickel (Ni), cobalt(Co), titanium (Ti), platinum (Pt), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), analloy such as TiAl or TiN, etc., or any other suitable metallicmaterial. Prior to deposition of the layer of metallic material 256, apreclean process can be performed to remove any surface impurities oroxides from the exposed surfaces of the epitaxial semiconductor layersof the drain regions 130 and 140.

Following deposition of the layer of metallic material 256, a thermalanneal process is performed at an appropriate temperature to induce areaction between the epitaxial semiconductor material of the drainregions 130 and 140 and the metallic material 256 within the voids toform the metal-semiconductor alloy regions 131 and 141 within therespective drain regions 130 and 140. For example, FIG. 38 is aschematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure ofFIG. 37 after forming the metal-semiconductor alloy regions 131 and 131within the respective drain regions 130 and 140. Within the drain region130, the metallic material 256 reacts with the at least a portion of thesemiconductor material of the first and third epitaxial semiconductorlayers 132 and 136 to form the metal-semiconductor alloy region 131. Inaddition, within the drain region 140, the metallic material 256 reactswith at least a portion of the semiconductor material of the first,second and third epitaxial semiconductor layers 132, 134, and 136 toform the metal-semiconductor alloy region 141.

In one embodiment, when the epitaxial semiconductor layers of the drainregions 130 and 140 are formed with Si, the metal-semiconductor alloyregions 131 and 141 comprise metal silicide regions. In otherembodiments, when the epitaxial semiconductor layers of the drainregions 130 and 140 are formed of semiconductor materials (e.g., III-Vsemiconductor compounds) other than Si, other types ofmetal-semiconductor alloy regions can be formed (e.g., Ni with InGaAs,etc.).

During the thermal anneal process, the metallic material 256 does notreact with the insulating materials (e.g., layers 250, 220, 215, 155)that are in contact with the layer of metallic material 256, such that aportion of the layer of metallic material 256 remains on the sidewallsof the vias 254 and on top of the etch hardmask layer 250 after themetal-semiconductor alloy regions 131 and 141 are formed, as shown inFIG. 38. Following the formation of the metal-semiconductor alloyregions 131 and 141, the remaining metallic material 256 is removed,followed by removal of the etch hardmask layer 252. In particular, FIG.39 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductorstructure of FIG. 38 after removing the remaining metallic material 256and etch hardmask layer 252. The remaining metallic material 256 isremoved by chemical etching, leaving the metal-semiconductor alloyregions 131 and 141 within the respective drain regions 130 and 140. Forexample, the unreacted portion of the metallic material 256 can beremoved using a wet etch process that removes the remaining metallicmaterial 256 selective to the metal semiconductor alloy regions 131/141.Moreover, the etch hardmask layer 252 can be removed with a wet etchprocess that is selective to the underlying capping layer 250 and thesidewall surfaces of the vias 254, and which does not etch or otherwisedamage the exposed surfaces of the metal semiconductor alloy regions131/141.

A next step in the process flow comprises filling the openings 254 withconductive material to form vertical drain contacts to the drain regions130 and 140. For example, FIG. 40 is a schematic cross-sectional sideview of the semiconductor structure of FIG. 39 after forming verticaldrain contacts 260 in the openings 254, which make contact to themetal-semiconductor alloy regions 131 and 141 of the respective drainregions 130 and 140. In one embodiment of the invention, the draincontacts 260 are formed by depositing one or more layers of liner andmetallic material over the semiconductor structure of FIG. 39 to fillthe openings 254, followed by a CMP process to remove the overburdenliner and metallic material on the surface of the capping layer 250. Forexample, the openings 254 can be lined with a thin conformal barrierdiffusion layer (e.g., TiN or TaN, etc.), and then filled with aconductive material including, but not limited to, copper, tungsten,cobalt, aluminum, or other conductive materials that are suitable foruse in forming drain contacts.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, following the removal (orpartial removal) of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layers 134and 144 of the respective drain regions 130 and 140, the voids in thedrain regions 130 and 140 and the contact openings 254 can be filledwith conductive material with no subsequent anneal. For example, ametallic material can be deposited to fill the voids in the drainregions 130 and 140 and the contact openings 254, thereby formingmetallic layers within the drain regions 130 and 150 and the verticaldrain contacts 260 with the same metallic material as deposited with asingle deposition process (with no subsequent anneal to formmetal-semiconductor alloy regions in the drain regions 130 and 140). Inyet another embodiment of the invention, a thin layer of liner materialcan first be deposited to line the exposed surfaces of the epitaxialsemiconductor material within the voids in the drain regions 130 and 140regions and to line the contact openings 254, wherein the liner materialserves to provide a lower contact resistance to the epitaxialsemiconductor materials of the drain regions 130 and 140. Followingdeposition of the liner material, the voids in the drain regions 130 and140 and the contact openings 254 are then filled with a bulk metallicfiller material which has a lower bulk resistance than the linermaterial (again with no subsequent anneal).

After forming the drain contacts, 260, the fabrication process continueswith forming vertical source contacts using a process flow asschematically illustrated in FIGS. 41 and 42. For example, FIG. 41 is aschematic cross-sectional side view of the semiconductor structure ofFIG. 40 after forming metal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 and 241(e.g., silicide) on the respective source regions 230 and 240. Inaddition, FIG. 42 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of thesemiconductor structure of FIG. 41 after forming source contacts 270 tothe metal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 and 241 on the respectivesource regions 230 and 240. The source contacts 270 can be fabricatedusing a process flow similar to the process flow for forming the draincontacts 260, as discussed above.

For example, as shown in FIG. 41, a layer of insulting material (e.g.,silicon nitride) is deposited and patterned to form an etch hardmasklayer 262 having a pattern of openings 262-1 which are aligned to, andexpose portions of, the source regions 230 and 240 of all verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170 in the device regions R1 and R2. Thehardmask layer 262 is used to etch openings through the capping layer250 (via RIE) to expose the portions of the underlying source regions230 and 240. The metal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 and 241 areformed by depositing a conformal layer of metallic material over thesurface of the semiconductor structure to cover the exposed portions ofthe source regions 231 and 241 with metallic material A thermal annealprocess is then performed at an appropriate temperature to inducereaction of the epitaxial semiconductor material of the source regions230 and 240 and the metallic material to form the metal-semiconductoralloy regions 231 and 241 of the respective source regions 230 and 240.

Following the formation of the metal-semiconductor alloy regions 231 and241, the unreacted metallic material and etch hardmask layer 262 areetched away from the surface of the semiconductor structure usingsuitable wet etch chemistries. Next, the source contacts 270 shown inFIG. 42 are formed by depositing one or more layers of liner andmetallic material over the semiconductor structure to fill the openingsin the capping layer 250, followed by a CMP process to remove theoverburden liner and metallic material and etch hardmask layer 262 downto the surface of the capping layer 250, resulting in the structureshown in FIG. 42. The source contacts 270 can be formed using the sameor similar liner and conductive materials as noted above to form thedrain contacts 260.

After forming the source contacts 270, the fabrication process continueswith forming gate contacts 280 resulting in the structure shown in FIG.1A. The gate contacts 280 can be formed by etching openings in thecapping layer 250 and ILD layer 220 to expose the extended portions 192of all the gate electrodes 190 in the device regions R1 and R2,depositing one or more layers of liner and metallic material to fill theopenings, and planarizing the surface of the semiconductor structure(via CMP) remove the overburden liner and metallic material on thesurface of the capping layer 250, resulting in the gate contacts 280shown in FIG. 1A.

As discussed above, FIG. 1B shows an example embodiment in which thedrain contacts 260 in the device regions R1 and R2 are formed on oneside of the drain region 130 adjacent to one end of the verticalsemiconductor fins 160 and 170. In other embodiments of the invention,the drain contacts can be formed in a variety of different arrangementsfor purposes of, e.g., facilitating removal of the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layers in the drain regions 130 and 140 and/or to furtherreduce the external drain resistance, and/or increasing Vds uniformityover the drain regions 130 and 140, etc. Alternate embodiments forforming drain contacts with different layouts in a device region areshown in FIGS. 43-49.

For example, FIG. 43 is a top plan view of a device region showing alayout of drain contacts according to another embodiment of theinvention. The layout shown in FIG. 43 is similar to the layout shown inFIG. 1B for the device region R1, except that the layout of FIG. 43includes a continuous elongated drain contact 260-1 that is formed tocontact to three sides of the drain region 130.

FIG. 44 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention. The layoutshown in FIG. 44 is similar to the layout shown in FIG. 43 except thatthe layout of FIG. 44 includes three separate elongated drain contacts260-2, 260-3, and 260-4 that are disposed on three separate sides of thedrain region 130.

FIG. 45 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention. The layoutshown in FIG. 45 is similar to the layout shown in FIG. 44 except thatthe layout of FIG. 45 includes the two separate elongated drain contacts260-3 and 260-4 that are formed on two opposing sides of the drainregion 130 (while omitting the elongated drain contact 260-2).

FIG. 46 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention. The layoutshown in FIG. 46 is similar to the layout shown in FIG. 1B in that thelayout shown in FIG. 46 includes one elongated drain contact 260-5 whichis formed to contact one side of the drain region 130, but which isshorter in length (or smaller in cross sectional area) than theelongated drain contact 260 of FIG. 1B.

FIG. 47 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention. The layoutshown in FIG. 47 is similar to the layout shown in FIG. 44 in that thelayout shown in FIG. 47 includes one elongated drain contact 260-2disposed adjacent to the ends of the vertical semiconductor fins 160,and which is formed to contact one side of the drain region 130. Thelayout shown in 47 comprises smaller drain contacts 260-6 and 260-7 onthe other sides of the drain region 130 (as opposed to the elongateddrain contacts 260-3 and 260-4 shown in FIG. 44).

FIG. 48 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention. The layoutshown in FIG. 48 is similar to the layout shown in FIG. 47 in that thelayout shown in FIG. 48 includes the smaller drain contacts 260-6 and260-7 on opposing sides of the drain region 130. However, the layout inFIG. 48 includes several smaller drain contacts 260-8 disposed in theregion adjacent to the ends of the vertical semiconductor fins (asopposed to one elongated drain contact 260-2 shown in FIG. 47).

FIG. 49 is a top plan view of a device region showing a layout of draincontacts according to another embodiment of the invention. The layoutshown in FIG. 49 is similar to the layout shown in FIG. 48, expect thelayout in FIG. 49 does not include several smaller drain contacts 260-8disposed in the region adjacent to the ends of the verticalsemiconductor fins.

The different layouts/arrangements of drain contacts shown in FIGS.43-49 can be utilized as necessary to facilitate formation of metallicregions within the drain regions and to obtain desired performancecharacteristics. For example, in circumstances where the verticalsemiconductor fins for the given device region are relatively long, thedrain contact layouts shown in FIG. 43, 44, 45, 47, 48 or 49 can be usedto ensure that the sacrificial epitaxial material in the drain regioncan be removed and adequately filled with metallic material to form themetal-semiconductor alloy region of the drain region. Indeed, if thedrain contact layouts shown in FIGS. 1B and 46 were used, it may bedifficult to form the metallic drain regions over the entire length ofthe drain region in circumstances where the drain contacts were onlyformed adjacent to the end potion of relatively long verticalsemiconductor fins.

Similarly, in circumstances where the given device region comprises alarge number of parallel disposed vertical semiconductor fins, thelayouts shown in FIGS. 45 and 49, for example, could be utilized toensure that the sacrificial epitaxial material in the drain region canbe removed and adequately filled with metallic material to form themetal-semiconductor alloy region of the drain region. Moreover, theexample layouts shown in FIGS. 47, 48 and 49, for example, which have anumber of smaller drain contacts disposed around the outer peripheralarea of the drain region, can be utilized to ensure proper formation ofmetallic regions within the drain region, while achieving lowerparasitic capacitances due to the smaller size drain contacts, andincreased Vds uniformity over the drain region.

It is to be understood that the methods discussed herein for fabricatingvertical semiconductor structures can be incorporated withinsemiconductor processing flows for fabricating other types ofsemiconductor devices and integrated circuits with various analog anddigital circuitry or mixed-signal circuitry. In particular, integratedcircuit dies can be fabricated with various devices such as field-effecttransistors, bipolar transistors, metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors,diodes, capacitors, inductors, etc. An integrated circuit in accordancewith the present invention can be employed in applications, hardware,and/or electronic systems. Suitable hardware and systems forimplementing the invention may include, but are not limited to, personalcomputers, communication networks, electronic commerce systems, portablecommunications devices (e.g., cell phones), solid-state media storagedevices, functional circuitry, etc. Systems and hardware incorporatingsuch integrated circuits are considered part of the embodimentsdescribed herein. Given the teachings of the invention provided herein,one of ordinary skill in the art will be able to contemplate otherimplementations and applications of the techniques of the invention.

Although exemplary embodiments have been described herein with referenceto the accompanying figures, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various otherchanges and modifications may be made therein by one skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope of the appended claims.

1. A semiconductor device, comprising: a first source/drain regionformed on a semiconductor substrate, wherein the first source/drainregion comprises a metallic layer and at least a first epitaxialsemiconductor layer; a vertical semiconductor fin formed on the firstsource/drain region; a second source/drain region formed on an uppersurface of the vertical semiconductor fin; a gate structure formed on asidewall surface of the vertical semiconductor fin; a layer ofinsulating material encapsulating the vertical semiconductor fin and thegate structure; and a first vertical contact formed through the layer ofinsulating material and in contact with the metallic layer of the firstsource/drain region, wherein the first vertical contact and the metalliclayer of the first source/drain region are formed of a same metallicmaterial.
 2. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the metalliclayer of the first source/drain region extends along an entire length ofthe vertical semiconductor fin.
 3. The semiconductor device of claim 1,wherein the metallic layer comprises at least one of copper, tungsten,cobalt, and aluminum.
 4. The semiconductor device of claim 1, whereinthe first source/drain region comprises a second epitaxial semiconductorlayer, wherein the metallic layer is disposed between the first andsecond epitaxial semiconductor layers.
 5. The semiconductor device ofclaim 1, wherein the vertical semiconductor fin comprises an epitaxialsemiconductor material that is epitaxially grown on the first epitaxialsemiconductor layer of the first source/drain region.
 6. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, further comprising a second verticalcontact formed through the layer of insulating material, which is formedof the same metallic material as the metallic layer of the firstsource/drain region, wherein the first vertical contact is disposedadjacent to an end of the vertical semiconductor fin, and wherein thesecond vertical contact is disposed adjacent to a first sidewall of thevertical semiconductor fin.
 7. The semiconductor device of claim 6,further comprising a third vertical contact formed through the layer ofinsulating material, which is formed of the same metallic material asthe metallic layer of the first source/drain region, wherein the thirdvertical contact is disposed adjacent to a second sidewall of thevertical semiconductor fin, which is opposite the first sidewall of thevertical semiconductor fin.
 8. A method for fabricating a semiconductordevice, comprising: forming a first source/drain region on asemiconductor substrate, wherein the first source/drain region comprisesa first epitaxial semiconductor layer and a sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer; forming a vertical semiconductor fin on the firstsource/drain region; forming a gate structure on a sidewall surface ofthe vertical semiconductor fin; encapsulating the vertical semiconductorfin and the gate structure in insulating material; forming a secondsource/drain region on an upper surface of the vertical semiconductorfin; forming an opening through the insulating material and into thefirst source/drain region to expose the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer of the first source/drain region; removing at leasta portion of the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer through theopening in the insulating material to form a void in the firstsource/drain region; and filling the void in the first source/drainregion and the opening in the insulating material with a same metallicmaterial to form a first vertical contact which vertically extendsthrough the insulating material.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinforming the first source/drain region on the semiconductor substratecomprises forming a heteroepitaxial stack structure comprising thesacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layer disposed between the firstepitaxial semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor epitaxiallayer.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein forming a verticalsemiconductor fin on the first source/drain region comprises epitaxiallygrowing the vertical semiconductor fin on the first epitaxialsemiconductor layer of the first source/drain region.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein removing at least a portion of the sacrificialepitaxial semiconductor layer to form a void in the first source/drainregion comprises etching the sacrificial epitaxial semiconductor layerselective to the first epitaxial semiconductor layer.
 12. The method ofclaim 8, wherein filling the void in the first source/drain region andthe opening in the insulating material with the metallic materialcomprises performing a single metal deposition process to concurrentlyfill the void and the opening with the same metallic material.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the metallic material comprises at least oneof copper, tungsten, cobalt, and aluminum.
 14. The method of claim 8,wherein forming an opening through the insulating material comprisesforming two or more openings through the insulating material and intothe first source/drain region to expose the sacrificial epitaxialsemiconductor layer of the first source/drain region; and whereinfilling the opening with the metallic material comprises filling the twoor more openings with the metallic material to form the first verticalcontact and at least a second vertical in the insulating material,wherein the first vertical contact is disposed adjacent to an end of thevertical semiconductor fin, and wherein the second vertical contact isdisposed adjacent to a sidewall of the vertical semiconductor fin.15.-20. (canceled)